The municipality of Ghelinta was one of the winners of this year's Sustainable Village competition organised by the French Embassy in Bucharest and the French-Romanian International Chamber of Commerce. The award was received by Mayor Botond Ilyés from Ambassador Laurence Auer at a gala held at the French Embassy on 20 October 2021. The municipality was awarded the prestigious prize for its achievements in the development of the Bioenergy Sample Village concept.
The competition, organised by the French Embassy and the Chamber of Commerce, was also entered by Ghelinta with its Bioenergy Village programme, which was awarded between 2016 and 2019, and under the leadership of Tihamér Sebestyén, the project manager of the ongoing Interreg Godanubio project. Most of the municipalities entered with plans, while Ghelinta has already entered the competition with realisations: it has been a leader in the recycling of wood waste as biomass for several years, with most of its public institutions and an increasing number of private homes being heated with wood waste.
The prize also includes a study trip to France in November, which will be attended by a delegation of four people.